Thanks for these suggestions, Heiner. I wonder if the cakradhara <-> Vaiṣṇava connection relates to Vaiṣṇavas being branded with the symbols of conch and discus (as I have never seen Vaiṣṇavas carrying actual wheels/discuses around)? In any case, I suspect it meant something different in 6th-century (or earlier) North India.

The epithet caraka made me wonder about the Carakasaṃhitā with its Buddhist connections (discussed by Dominik Wujastyk and others). Is the name a coincidence?

Best wishes,
Martin Gansten

Den 2022-07-15 kl. 11:00, skrev Rolf Heinrich Koch via INDOLOGY:

Dear Martin,

in Sri Lanka they call today Viṣṇuites as cakradhara

better try this one: Barua, Maskarī as an Epithet of Gosāla, IHQ Vol III No 2 June 1927: 235-261.

Best

Heiner

Am 15.07.2022 um 09:34 schrieb Martin Gansten via INDOLOGY:
In his Bṛhajjātaka, Varāhamihira lists seven types of ascetics corresponding to the seven planets: śākyājīvikabhikṣuvṛddhacarakā nirgranthavanyāśanāḥ. A few centuries later, the commentator Bhaṭṭotpala elaborates slightly on these, citing the authorities Vaṅkālakācārya (writing in Prakrit) and Satyācārya. These passages are discussed in Basham's History and Doctrines of the Ājīvikas (p. 168 ff., giving the Prakrit author's name as Kālakācārya). I am wondering if any further research on these ascetic categories has been published after Basham's book, which is now more than 70 years old. In particular, I am curious about the categories vṛddha (identified by Bhaṭṭotpala as Kāpālikas) and caraka (which he says are cakradharas). All suggestions are welcome.

Best wishes,
Martin Gansten
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Dr. Rolf Heinrich Koch
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